US Election Moves Asian Stocks, Japan Rebounds
Asian stocks were mixed in early trade on November 5, with Japanese stocks bucking the trend higher. The US midterm election results are moving global financial markets, with the Democratic Party taking control of both the Senate and House, and the market is watching whether the Trump administration's policy agenda will be blocked, as well as whether AI data center construction may face stricter regulation, intensifying volatility in Asian technology stocks. After a pullback yesterday, Japanese stocks rebounded in early trade today, with the Nikkei 225 up 280.47 points or 0.45% at 62469.10; the TOPIX up 76.11 points at 3971.49, up 1.95%, outperforming the Nikkei.
Chip Stocks Plunge, Korean Stocks Down 188 Points
Japanese semiconductor stocks followed US semiconductor stocks lower, with Advantest at one point plunging 11.17%, Tokyo Electron down 9.13%, and Kioxia down 9.93%. South Korea's KOSPI fell 188.66 points in early trade to 5495.14, down 3.32%. As of 9:52 AM local time, Samsung Electronics plunged 5.28% to 206500 won; SK Hynix tumbled 7.52% to 1291000 won. In addition, Samsung Electro-Mechanics fell over 10% and SK Square dropped 6.9%. According to South Korean media Seoul Economic Daily, the market worries that Democratic control of Congress will bring tighter regulation, raising grid expansion costs and approval times and hurting semiconductor demand. US stocks closed higher in the previous session, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 3.13% against the trend, with Micron plunging 7% and Nvidia down 3.2%. Korea's Kiwoom Securities believes regulation still faces political and industrial competitiveness resistance, existing AI investment plans may not be materially impacted, and the short-term reaction may be excessive.
Taiwan Down 858 Points, NT Dollar Nears 33
The TAIEX opened at 42666.13 points, once rising to 42873.81 points, then selling pressure emerged, falling to a low of 42017.78 points, with a high-low swing of 856.03 points, last at 42090.72 points, down 858.19 points or 2%, with turnover of about 2196.45 billion yuan, approaching the 42000 mark. The OTC index widened losses to 4.6%, last at 327.54 points, with heavy selling in small and mid-cap stocks. Taiwan stocks have fallen sharply for consecutive days, with margin deleveraging weaker than expected, listed margin financing fell by 307.73 billion yuan on November 3 and only 84.72 billion yuan on November 4, for a combined decrease of 392.45 billion yuan. As of 9:13 AM, the New Taiwan dollar against the US dollar was at 32.912 yuan, down about 9.1 cents, only 8.8 cents away from 33 yuan. The New Taiwan dollar closed yesterday at 32.821 yuan, a fresh closing low in over a year and a half, with foreign investors selling Taiwan stocks by about 1499 billion yuan, the fifth-largest sell-off on record.